That question was also still difficult for him to answer fully.
'To move to the next stage...'
He needed to be strong enough to face the enemies of the next stage. If he wasn't confident of that, even if it meant leveling up extremely slowly, he would have to continue hunting Black Agents. Since he had swept through the Black Agents here, even if it meant going to another city, the natural course would be to hunt Black Agents.
First, after confirming the abilities gained from reaching level 7, he should provide an answer to that problem.
[Critical ERROR...]
As expected.
Simultaneously with the level-up, the now quite familiar Critical ERROR message window appeared and disturbed his mind.
Critical error.
It would be nice if they would stop telling him already, but once again without fail, the system informed him that he was a product of a critical error.
Click.
Dong Bong-su closed the error window that was noisily chattering.
He calmly checked the benefits brought by the level-up.
The stat window showed the usual steady increase with nothing more. The Quest Window was still rife with X marks, and there were no new gifts in the Inventory.
Just like when rising from level 2 to 6, the only window with distinctive changes was the Skill Window.
First, the proficiency of the two Active Skills gained at level 5 had increased slightly. He already knew this and it was expected.
What was important was that with this level 7, two new skills had been added.
[Circulating Energy Lv.1 Proficiency: 0%]
A training method that artificially guides the energy accumulated in the dantian through the meridians distributed throughout the body.
Upon activation, attack power and defense power temporarily increase.
Duration/Cooldown: 5/10 (minutes)
Energy Consumption per Use: 100 JP
Current Skill Bonus: Attack Power/Defense Power increased by 30%
[Three Talents Sword Technique - 2nd Form Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon Lv.1 Proficiency: 0%]
A sword technique common throughout the Martial World. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon is an enhanced version of thrust.
All action bonus values of this skill are related to the proficiency of related skills and whether Sword Energy/Sword Aura is activated.
Currently Applied Level: Lv.1 (The player can adjust the level of this skill.)
Thrust Range Bonus: 1%
Thrust Attack Power Bonus: 1%
Thrust Activation Speed Bonus: -0%
Energy Consumption per Use: 30 JP
[Lightness Arts], [Circulating Energy], [Three Talents Sword Technique 1st and 2nd Forms]
Dong Bong-su carefully examined the abilities of the skills gained at level 5 together with those just obtained.
Lightness Arts could be used like a Passive Skill as long as JP was infinite, and Three Talents Sword Technique was literally an attack skill called a 'sword technique.'
On the other hand, Circulating Energy was the first 'Buff'-type skill he had acquired. The energy consumption seemed quite large, but the ability gained was quite good.
Attack power and defense power increased by 30%.
Even without trying it, he could guess how tremendous it was.
Although it had the disadvantage of a 5-minute duration with a 10-minute cooldown, if used only when needed, that disadvantage didn't seem very significant.
Next.
Swoosh— slash—
He consecutively executed Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers and Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon, the 1st and 2nd forms of Three Talents Sword Technique. They connected very smoothly, but there didn't seem to be any special bonus. He then tried using them in reverse order, but again the two movements flowed together as if they had originally been one. That was all. He realized that no special benefit arose from consecutively using forms of the same sword technique.
Having finished confirming the new skills, he put Jo Pyeong's horribly dead corpse into his Inventory and advanced forward.
Splash, splash.
The road through Nakwon Village that had turned into a sea of blood soon ended. Behind Nakwon Village, wide rice paddies and fields spread out, and in the middle of them stood a fairly large manor.
Nakwon Manor.
"Paradise."
An unsuitable name.
Ah, from my perspective it's a sufficiently suitable romantic name.
For me, that is.
Now if I just topple that place, all the Black Groups in Bongyang will disappear.
After trying out the newly acquired skills there, I'll decide.
Whether to advance forward, or stay in this position a bit longer.
***
Dong Bong-su entered Nakwon Manor.
Thinking Black Agents might be hiding in the paddies and fields, he approached slowly and cautiously. However, there was no one to obstruct his advance.
Rather, the gate of Nakwon Manor was wide open.
Seeing the open gate, he thought of two military strategies that Black Snake Society leader Bang Po-yeom could choose.
Empty Fort Strategy? Or Flight is Best?
If it was Empty Fort Strategy, he should stop advancing for now, and if it was Flight is Best, he should also stop here. Either way, there would be no one inside if he entered.
Nevertheless, Dong Bong-su entered Nakwon Manor.
Because aside from those two military strategies, there was one more thing a person could choose.
That was.
Giving up.
When humans face difficulties they absolutely cannot cope with or are on the verge of losing everything, they choose one of two options. Either fight to the death or just die.
Dong Bong-su was certain Bang Po-yeom had chosen the latter. The entire atmosphere of Nakwon Manor was enveloped in such a feeling.
The fight in Nakwon Village must have been merely a last stand before dying.
"Are you the Nameless Vigilante?"
As Dong Bong-su stepped inside Nakwon Manor, an aged and hollow voice reached him from the darkness.
A gaunt old man with white hair was looking at Dong Bong-su. Dong Bong-su instinctively knew the old man was Bang Po-yeom.
Even to Bang Po-yeom's words, Dong Bong-su said nothing. He merely slowly approached Bang Po-yeom.
"If you're a vigilante, why are you wrapped up so tightly?"
"Because I'm not a vigilante."
A brief statement.
"Heh heh. Not a vigilante? Then why have you been killing Black Group members?"
"Because I'm not a vigilante."
The answer was the same. And both were correct. Because he wasn't a vigilante, he covered his face, and because he wasn't a vigilante, he went around killing Black Agents.
"Heh heh. You've deceived all the people of Bongyang."
"I never deceived anyone. They just believed it themselves."
Dong Bong-su again spoke the truth. He had merely hidden himself within the belief people wanted to believe.
There's a saying that you see as much as you know. Similarly to that, people believe as they want to believe or as they want to see. As suits their convenience. The truth behind it doesn't matter.
"...An interesting fellow. Even if I cross the Sanzu River today, I won't have any regrets."
Clang!
A clear sword cry rang throughout Nakwon Manor. Bang Po-yeom had drawn his sword.
"Come. Whether you're the Nameless Vigilante or not, you came to kill me anyway. Let's have a match."
Dong Bong-su also slowly drew his sword. It was the Novice's Sword. And he even used Circulating Energy, the skill gained today. Fierce energy instantly burst from his body.
"A fine sword and fine momentum."
Bang Po-yeom admired and extended his sword toward Dong Bong-su. It was a kind of courtesy taken between each other when crossing swords. However, Dong Bong-su didn't know such things. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have observed them.
Sring—
The merciless cry of a sword.
To him, a sword was merely a weapon to kill opponents.
Dong Bong-su rushed at Bang Po-yeom without a moment's hesitation.
***
How strong am I now? Am I strong enough to leap into the real Martial World?
Tap, tap, tap.
Dong Bong-su asked himself once more as he left Nakwon Manor.
Drip, drip, drip.
The answer was being given by the blood flowing down from his sword tip.
That it was time to advance to the next stage.
***
Martial World.
A world of life-and-death contests and a land of ambition where desires are realized. Where revenge and grudges are tangled like threads, where everyday laws are ignored and the laws of the Martial World take priority.
Gain power and you reign over the world, but fall behind and you must lie down bleeding on the cold earth.
Hence terms like "heartless Martial World" and "merciless Martial World" came into being.
People classified martial artists with terms like Orthodox Faction, Unorthodox Faction, and Demonic Path, but to ordinary people, it was all nonsense. In their view, martial artists were all the same 'lawless ones.'
The current Martial World was in a state where three great forces maintained balance. The so-called Three-Legged Tripod. The shape of a three-legged cauldron standing upright. Here, if even one of the legs collapsed, the world's situation would change drastically.
People called each force forming the three legs of the cauldron the Three Hegemons, and accordingly called the current Martial World the World of Three Hegemons.
Murim Alliance.
A collective formed by the Nine Sects and One Society, the Five Great Families of the Central Plains, and numerous small and medium Orthodox Factions of the Martial World. Since it was Shaolin that originally led to the birth of the Murim Alliance, its headquarters was also located in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, close to Mount Song where Shaolin was located.
When all Orthodox Factions belonging to the Murim Alliance united, the Murim Alliance was undoubtedly the greatest force in the Martial World. However, under the Murim Alliance's laws, the Alliance Leader had very limited authority, so the giant organization called the Murim Alliance was not privatized by him. Therefore, the ordinary Murim Alliance was merely a symbolic organization of the Orthodox Factions.
However, there were times when all Orthodox Factions of the Martial World united under the banner of the Murim Alliance and Alliance Leader—that was when the Central Plains was invaded by foreign powers. Except for those times, in normal periods it was merely a loosely connected federation, and sometimes fierce secret struggles and conflicts occurred among the Orthodox Factions within it.
Heavenly Demon Castle.
A group of those who worshipped the Heavenly Demon who unified the Martial World a thousand years ago, located in Xinjiang. Their influence actually reached everywhere in the world without exception, but the openly revealed forces were concentrated in Xinjiang and Tibet.
In fact, it was the greatest single force in the Martial World, and the Heavenly Demon Castle Lord possessed absolute power within it. If he so wished, the masters of Heavenly Demon Castle could cross Qinghai and storm into the Central Plains tomorrow. However, in that case, the Murim Alliance Leader would circulate the martial decree and immediately counterattack, so they couldn't easily make a move.
Hall of Gathering Evil.
The weakest of the Three Hegemons, a force despised as heretical. However, if they sided with the Murim Alliance, the world would immediately become the world of the Orthodox Faction, and if they sided with Heavenly Demon Castle, Heavenly Demon Castle would immediately take over the world—in fact, Hall of Gathering Evil was the force playing the most crucial role in the Three-Legged Tripod.
They weren't fearsome merely because they were masters of tightrope walking. They controlled the underworld of the realm, and with their enormous financial power, they were the only force that could move even the government to a limited extent from the shadows.
For the past hundred years, there had been no fatal clashes among these three forces. It was a so-called period of peace.
However, the Three-Legged Tripod was an unstable situation that started creaking with even the slightest imbalance on one side.
In fact, this cauldron called the Martial World had been constantly creaking for the past hundred years. Hall of Gathering Evil's dangerous tightrope walking had simply maintained that equilibrium well.
What if.
What if this cauldron had not three legs but four? Moreover, what if that leg was in the center of the cauldron where it wasn't easily visible from outside?
What if that center leg had been maintaining the balance from the shadows?
The three legs might have been mistaken into thinking the balance was maintained by them alone. At a glance, the center leg wasn't easily visible, and one might have the illusion that it didn't matter whether it existed or not.
Was that really the case?
If the center leg was much larger and sturdier than the other three legs combined, the cauldron could stand even without the other three legs.
Invisible...
If such a leg truly existed, and that leg was larger and sturdier than the other three legs combined.